38 h. ago ‘The Black experience is more than just London’: Chiedu Oraka, the Hull rapper handpicked to support Coldplay

When Chris Martin called, the MC saw an opportunity to rep his city, pursue his goal of being rap’s next ‘king of the north’ – and expand perceptions of Black British identity‘When I say ‘Hull’, you say ‘City’! Hull  ” Chiedu Oraka grins, pointing his mic towards the middle of a near-empty recording studio. Silence – for now, at least. Next week, that pause will be filled by 20,000 voices at Craven Park stadium, where the local rapper will open Coldplay’s latest UK run of Music of the Spheres tour dates. And he is determined to make that crowd his own. “There’s going to be people there who haven’t seen me before, so I want to give them everything – new songs, old ones and a party,” he says. “I’m proper buzzing for it.”Last year, Oraka played Glastonbury, opened for Skepta at South by Southwest and supported the Brit-award-winning rapper Casisdead. But these Coldplay shows are the 37-year-old’s biggest gigs yet – and Hull’s most high-profile music events in years. The gigs ...

Politics

64 h. ago The British city that is the best for Gen Z – and it’s not London

The British city that is the best for Gen Z – and it’s not London  Time Out Worldwide

Politics

4 d. ago NFL star Travis Kelce wants to ‘do good’ with fame from dating Taylor Swift

The 35-year-old Kansas City Chiefs player gave an interview to British GQ.

Politics

8 d. ago Canadian cities cancel US Christian nationalist’s performances

Eight cities have revoked permits for Sean Feucht, a pro-Trump preacher and singer, sparking free speech debateEight Canadian cities have revoked performance permits for Sean Feucht, a Trump-supporting Christian nationalist preacher and musician, who led anti-gay demonstrations outside Disneyland and protested against mask mandates during the Covid-19 pandemic.Over the past two weeks, performances by Feucht, have been cancelled in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Moncton, New Brunswick; Quebec City, Quebec; Vaughan, Ontario; and Abbotsford, British Columbia. Local authorities cited safety concerns or code of conduct violations as reasons for cancelling his appearances. The municipal government in Winnipeg, Manitoba, denied Feucht a permit to perform due to “operational challenges”. Continue reading...

Politics

last month Ellis Genge primed to summon spirit of 2022 as he runs into Australia again

Loosehead prop helped save Eddie Jones’s job in Brisbane three years ago and can make a similar impact for the LionsYou can chart Ellis Genge’s Test career by his tours of Australia. In 2016 he and Kyle Sinckler were Eddie Jones’s “rough diamonds”, picked to get a taste of an international tour but nowhere near Test selection. Six years on and in England’s second Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane, Genge kickstarted a victory that saved Jones’s job with a thunderous carry into Michael Hooper. Three years later, back in the same city, Genge makes his British & Irish Lions Test bow against Australia.After naming Genge in Saturday’s side, the head coach, Andy Farrell, encouraged the 30-year-old loosehead prop to take a moment to reflect on how far he has come. It does not come easily to Genge but his growing influence on the international sides he represents is obvious. He confesses that nine years ago he and Sinckler “tried to get out of the way as much as we could” and “were ...

Politics

last month Lovely British coastal city is among cheapest places to go on holiday in UK at £108

A new study has uncovered that one particular UK coastal city is a burgeoning hot spot for summer staycations, with Aqua's analysis finding that it's among the cheapest destinations for a weekend away

Economics